Beet harvester



0. G. WELLTON Bsa'r HARVESTER Filed April 8, 1922 5 Sheets-Shao?, 2

TTO GoTTFH/ED VVELLTON- www Aug. 26 i924.

`5 Sheets-Shut 5 su Apr-n a, 1922 Aug.' 26. 1924.

O. G. WELLTON BEBI.'V HARVESTER 5 Sheets-Shout 4 Filed Apr-11. s, 19a 2.

OTTO GoT'rFRlEo WELLTON 5 im www Aug. ze 1924. 1,506,393

O. G. WELLTON BELT HARVESTER Filed April 8, 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 0T To GoTTFmEo WELL-row Patented Aug. 26, 1926i.

OTTO GOTTIFRIED KVELLTGN, GF MLMO, SWEDEN.

BREVE HARVESTER.

Application filed April 8,

T 0 all 107mm t may concern:

Be it known that l, OTTO Go'r'rrninn VVELLTON, a subject of the King of viwed't-im residing at Malmo, Sweden, have invented a new and useful improvement in Beet Harvesters, of which the following' is a. specification.

The present invention relates to beet harvester for gathering' and nipping` beets and similar roots, of the kind provided with members operating` in the soil for loosening the beets, and with members adapted to grip the tops of the beets and pull the beets ont of the soil and feed the beets to a nipping device for cutting off the tops. Beet harvesters of this lind as heretofore used have the disadvantage that most frequently they do not cut the tops in the proper place but either too high or too low. in the former case a portion of the top will remain on the beet, so that for instance in the case of beetroots, the sugarwvorlis will reject the beetroots, and in the latter case a greater or less portion of the beets `goes to waste which of course entails a financial loss to the grower. Heretofore used harvesters are also complicated and expensive.

rlhe object of the present inventioni's to avoid the said disadvantages, and for this purpose the invention is broadly7 characterized by this that the nipping device consists of gripping` members provided on two arms capablel of swinging` forwards and back, saidy gripping members beine; also capable of moving` towards and away from one another in such manner that when swinging in the one direction they are located. at a comparatively large distance from one another and can move past a beet, whereas when sii/*ing*- ing in the other direction said members are moved towards one another so that they grip the beet and carry the beet towards a knife for nipping` the top of the beet. rlhe gripping members, which may be provided with fingers for enclosing' or gripping around the beets, diverge suitably outwards from the center of rota-tion, and outside the path of movement of thc gripping` members there are suitably provided arcuate or curved guide rails, against which the beets are 'moved during the .sv/'inging motion of the gripping. members, and which guide wils guide the beets during the nipping. ln this manner the beets are correctly7 grippe-.d and guided so that the tops of the beets will be nippedor cut olf at the proper .place` ln the accompanying drawings an enbodiment of the invention is shown by way of example. Fin'. 1 shows a side view of a. beet harvester according` to the invention, and Fig. 2 shows plan view of the harvester. Fig. 3 shows a plan view of the top-guides. Figs. a-G show to a larger scale the device for nipping the beets. in Fig'. viewed from the side, in Fig. 5 from the front end of theharvester, and in Fig. 6 from above.

ln the embodiment illustrated the mem bers for pullin D' the beets ont of the soil consist of two endless bands 1 of rubber or sin ilar material which run over front and rear rollers, 2 and 8 respectively, which rollers are journalled in the machine frame fl. Said frame is carried by two front guide wheels 5 and two largerrear driving wheels 6, which are driven by the engine 7 mounted on the frame,y through suitable nearing, for instance a Cardan shaft S and differential gear 9. The bands 1 are located adjacentk and parallel to one another in such manner that their inner parts form together a chiite 10 for the tops of the beets, and in Serial No. 550,599.

an inclined position, as shown in Fig'. l, in such manner that the 'front ends of the bands, in the direction of movement of the machine, are located near to the ground7 whereas, the two rear ends are located at considerable distance above the ground. rillhe front rollers 2 are secured to their shafts 11 which are journalled in an inclined position in arms 12 rigidly connected with the frame el, said shafts supporting` at their upper ends bevel gear-wheels 13 meshing with two bevel pinions 141-, which are secured to a common horizontal shaft 15 driven from the engine i' means of a chain 16. The rear rollers 3 are driven by the bands 1. The inner parts of the bands 1 are maintained at the desired distance from one another by a number of supporting4 rollers 17 journalierL in suitable mann-er in the frame.

To the arms 12, which support the front rollers 2, there are secured two plow-like topgiiides 1S, Figs. 1 and 3, which serve to gather the tops and convey the same into the chute l0 betw en the inner parts of the bands 1. The lower portions of said top-guides are formed as sleighs sliding` on the soil, the top-guides thus preventing the rollers 2 and the front ends of the bands i from ,touching the ground. Two plow-memT` bers 19 are provided, one on each side. of and slightly in front of the top-guides 18, said plow-members reaching down into the soil on each side of the row of beets and serving Ito loosen the beets. The plow-members are secured to-'spindles 2O slid'able in vertical direction in bushings 21 in the machine frame and capable of being raised and lowered by means of toothed wheels 22 meshing with toothed racks 23 secured to said spindles. The toothed wheels 22 are l secure-d to a common shaft 24 journalled in the machine frame, which shaft may be driven from the shaft 15 by means of a belt 25. Said belt is of such length that normally it slides on its pulleys secured to the shafts 15 and 24, so that the shaft 24 is not rotated during the rotation of the shaft 15, but the belt may be tightened by forcing down a pedal 26 acting by means of a roller 27 on the belt so that the shaft 24 is caused to rotaste. 1n this manner the plow-members 19 may thus be raised out of the soil when the harvester has arrived at the end of the row of beets. When the plow-members have been raised in this manner a pawl 28, which is actuated by a spring not shown in the drawing, engages a raitchet wheel 30 secured to the shaft 24. ln this manner both plow-members 19 are thus retained in raised position` when the harvester is to be turned `around or transported on a road.

There are also secured to the shaft- -24 two toothed wheels 31 meshing with two toothed racks 32 movable in vertical direction and adapted during such movement to carry along two spindles 33 movable in vertical direction in the frame, the lower ends of said spindles being formed as forks 34 in which the guide wheels 5 are journalled. lVhen in the manner above described the shaft 24 is caused to rotate by the. belt 25 being tightened for the purpose of raisingthe plow-members 19, the spindles 33 will be moved downwards in relation to the machine frame, with the result that the front portion of the frame is turned upwards around the shaft 35 of the driving wheels 6. Owing to this movement the top-guides 18 and the rollers 2 are raised from the ground, so that v'they do not strike rises in the ground during the transport of the machine. Snow-plow-like shields 3G are pivoted to the shafts of the guide wheels 5, said shields preceding the wheels and serving to move the tops of the beets aside, so that they do not become pressed. down by the wheels. Said shields are connected with the frame by means of links 37, so that the lshields lare lifted when the front portion of the fname is turned upwards, las above described. In similar manner there are provided ,shields 38 in front of the driving wheels 6, said shields being pivoted to the shaft 35 and connected by means of links 39 with arms 40 projecting laterally from the upper ends of the spindles 20, so that said shields' will be turned upwards when the spindles 20 are moved upwards for the purpose of raising the plow-members 19. On rotation of the shaft 24 in counter-clockwise direction in Fig. 1 the parts 36, 19, 18, 2, and 38 will 'thus be simultaneously raised from the ground, so that the machine may freely be turned and transported.

The machine is guided by means of a hand wheel 42 located in front of the drivers seat 41, the movement of said hand wheel being transmitted by means of a worm gearing 43, 44 to a horizontal shaft 45 on which a. bevel gear-wheel 46 is secured.

Said gear-wheel meshes with a bevel gear segment 47 which is secured to a vertical shaft 49 journalled in the machine frame, the lower square portion of said shaft engaging a longitudinal aperture of corre.- sponding` shape in the spindle 33 of4 one of the guide wheels 5. In this manner the spindle may be turned as well as displaced longitudinally. The spindle of the other guide wheel, in which spindle there is also provided a slidable square shaft 50, is turned by means of a link 48, which connects-two levers 51 secured one on each of `theshafts 49 and 50. In order to render possiblethe rotaryv movement as well as the vertical movement of the spindles 33 there is pro vided around each spindle a flange 52 against which the lower end of the toothed rack 32 abuts.

The parts of the machine yare Areturned to working positions, shown in Fig. 1, by the pedal 29 being depressed which causes the pawl 28 to be moved out o-f engagement with the ratchet wheel 30. Owing to the weight of the. frame the shaft 24 is caused to rotate in clock-wise direction in Fig. 1, so that the plow-members`19` are forced down into :the ground. If desired, this movement may be braked by a slight depression of the pedal 26.

When the machine is driven forward over a row of beets the two guide wheels 5 run on the two sides of the row, the driving' wheels 6 embracing threerrows of beets. The beets are loosened by the plow-members 19,I and simultaneously the top-guides' 18 gather the tops of the. beets and guide said tops into the chute 10 between the inner parts of the bands 1, between which the tops are so much compressed that during their movement in the direction indicated by the arrows in Fig'. 2 the bands are able to 'pull the loosened beets out of the soil. For this purpose the bands are provided on their outer sides with ridgesor ribs in a ,check pattern, so that the bands are capable of securely gripping the tops` even if the thickness of the tops'of the different beets varies.

The speedwith which tlie bands move, vis

adjusted in relation to theispeed of theIA ma'- ohine in suchmannerv that every point of the inner'parts of thebands will move-jin aA verbands 'exert ay p u'llingaction on the beetsin a direction straight.upwards This of vcourse forkv-likeextension 8O which projects on the facilitates the pulling .up of the beets.

Then the beetshave been ,pulled up in the.

manner described, the beetsare transported, hanging V1n vertical position between the,

bands l, up to ythedeviee for cutting oft or nipping the. tops. This device, which is monnted'onthe rear p ortionof the frame4,

Consistsnftwo grppngmembers 6.0, which, grip around the beets proper v immediately befo11 e the bands letgo their hold of the tops,fand carryivthe b eets towardsa knife; 61 which cutsoifthe top s. T he grip pi ng me mbers60 consist of angularly bent platespro-- vided with fingers, said platesbreingflocated oppositeone another; immediately below the rear ends of the bandsiv 1 and being pivotally-and yieldiiigly connected with two arms'. 62. VThe .lower ends of said armsare shaped as pivots63 and are rotatably journalled in two other armsj64, which fare secured to two parallel shaft-s 65,1'which in their turn are rotatably.journalled in a common frame 66,

whichfis rotatable on a shaft 67 in the machine frame.v The pivots 63 are perpendicular to theshafts 65,` ,which in theirturn formtright ,angles to :the shaft 67, so v'that t-he gripping members 60 may obtain a threefold movement, namelya rotary movement on the pivots63, a swinging movement to-. wards and away from each other upon the shafts 65, and a,swinging movement inuni son on the shaft 67. A coil spring 68'issecured between said two arms 62 Vafndtends to move said arms and thus also the gripv ping members 60 towards each other and towards the-beet between said gripping mem bers, said spring also tending to ,maintain theI gripping members directed towards one crossing each other.y between the pulleys, so thatwhenone of the pulleys 69 is turned in the one direction.-fo r instance counter-clock-- wise in Fig. -theother pulleyisforced to turnthrough 'an equal angle inthe opposite y In this man 11er. thearms 64. and. 62 wthtlae gripping...

engagementt with the ratchet wheel. This turning,-however, is at first prevented by theextension() reachingin under ya second direction-eloclwise in Eig; 5.

membersmtt) are,fforced alway's to swing symmetrically in 'relation .to .Vertical plane. mclwaybetween. and.. para11el'-wth ,the shafts 65.

T0 .thesliaflt-T a toothed. gear.\.v.1.1e.e1 72 .is

ter-,clockwise direction in Fig. 4.

wayS...lotateS.ina clockwise ,direction as .Viefwedin Fig. 4. 1n the middle of the shaft- 67 there are also. .secured a ratchet wheel 76 which maybe engaged by a pawl 77 turning on a pivot 78v-secu1edto an arm 79 project yjmgupwards from. the lower portionof the frame 66..; Theipawl 77 is provided with a .loweriefnds being secured to lues 83.011 the aid `springs uppen side ofthe frame 66. 8l are locatedin suchmanner relatively to the pivot 78 of vthepawl that in the position of the. p awlshown in F ig. 4 said springs tend to ,maintain the pawl in engagement with the ratchetiwheel 76, whereas when the pawl hasjbeen turned in counterclockwise directionin Iig. 4 so .far that the direction of ,pulloi' the springs passes the pivot 78, vsaid springs tend to turn thepawl in a direction outofy engagement .with the ratchet wheel. W'henthepawl is in engagement with the 1at chet wheel the frame 66 and the arms 64 and A62 and the gripping members 60 are carried alongin the. rotation of the shaft 67 in the clockwise direction in Fig. 4 in order to move the beet against `the knife 61.

The turning of thevpawl 7 7 out of engagenieutwith the ratchet wheel 76 is effected by a T-shaped erin-84, which is secured to the.vinachineframe, and against the laterally projecting portions of which thc projections 82 of the pawl `77 strike during the turning,abovedescribed of the frame 66 in the clolwise direction in Fig. 4, so that the springs 8l areinoved past the pivot 78 and thus maintain the pawl out of engagement. Duringthe.. said turning of the frame 66 a spring 86 is stretched, which spring is insertedbetweenan arm 87 projecting from thevframe66, and a iixedpart 88 of the inachine fraine.-` lVhen in the .manner above described the pawl 77 has been moved out of 7engagem,ent with theiratchet wheel 76, the spring 86 will obviously turn back the lfrainc 66 and the parts 64, 62 and 60 in counp Y During suchinovementthe forked extension 8O of the. pawl first strikes .against a fixed stop 89,

so thatthepawl is turned somewhat ,in the clockwise direetion around the pivot 7 8, so that the springs .81.. tend to turn the pawl into fixedfstop; 9.0. The-arms 62with the grippingineniberstl ,are then in a position slightlxto the leftof that illustratedin Fig. 4, the grippingmembersbeingheld separated from each 'otherby Yafinger91. prohand arm 62 in Fig. '5, which finger bears against a bent arm 92, which is secured to a shaft 93 rotatable in the shaft of the righthand roller 3. now ready to receive a beet from the bands 1.

yWhen a beet has been moved by the bands 1 so far upwards that the top of the beet' strikes against one end 94 of the arm 92 projecting into the chute 10, said arm is turned in such manner that the finger 91 loses its support on the arm, with the result that the spring 68 pulls the arms 62 with the gripping members towards oneanother so that the gripping members are closed around the beet. The beet is actuated during still a short time, however, by the bands 1 which pull the beet obliquely upwards-to the right in' Fig. 4, so that lthe beet slides somewhat upwards between 'the gripping members, with the result that earth is scraped from the beet. The beet is pulled upwards in this manner until 'thebeet neck strikes against two parallell curved guide rails 95, which are secured to the machine frame by means of studs 96 and strong springs 97 on said studs, so that the rails may be capable of a slight movement in the vertical direction. Simultaneously, the beet is pulled by the bands 1 slightly to the right in Fig. 4, howeverwith the result that the gripping members 60 and the parts 62, 64 and 66 are slightly turned in clockwise direction, so that the extension on the pawl loses its hold against the stop 90, so that the springs 81 turn the pawl 77 into engagement with the ratchet wheel 76. Simultaneously the bands 1 let go their hold on the top of the beet. rlhe parts 66, 64, 62 and 60 will now be carried along in the rotation of the shaft 67, so that the beet, while sliding with its neck against the rails 95, will be moved with great speed against the knifel 61 secured to the rails, which knife will thus cut off the top at the proper place. Meanywhile the arm 92, actuated by the spring wardly projecting studs 98 secured to they arms 6.2 strike against two forks 99, which are pivotally mounted on the machine frame and are normally maintained in the position shown in Fig. 6 in the paths oftravel of the studs v98, by a spring 101 insertedbetween said forks which are capable of'swinging out from one another, however, under the yaction of said studs 98. By said studs 98 striking against said forks 99 the arms 62 are turned on their pivots 63, so that the gripping members 60 are opened and throw out the nipped beet. The beets and the beet tops may be collectedv in separate boxes provided on the frame 4.

1nthe path of the finger 91 on the one arm The gripping members areV 62 there is provided a tongue 102 turning on a fixed pivot, said tongue being turned aside Yby said linger 91 approximately simulta- -neously with the studs 98 striking against the forks 99. Immediately lafter the finger 91 has passed said tongue 102, which is spring-actuated so that it returns automatically to its shown initial position, the pro-` jections 82 on the pawl 77 strike against the portions of the T-shaped arm 84, so that said pawl 77 is moved, in the manner above described, out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 7 6, so that the spring 86 begins to turn back the arms 62 with the gripping members to the left in Fig. 4. Duringthis return movement, however, the finger 9 1 will strike against the outer side ofthe tongue 102, and said tongue being unable to yield' in thisdirection, the finger 91 is caused to slide along the outer face of said tongue and along a fixed guide rail 103 which forms a continuation of the tongue. Said guide rail at first ruiming away from the central plane of the machine, the arms 62 with the gripe the finger91 strikes against the arm 92.V The f gripping members are now in position for receiving another beet from the bands 1, after which the Vcourse described repeats itself'. l

I claim 1.y In a beet harvester, the combination of members operating in the soil. for loosening the beets, means adaptedl to grip the tops of the beets and pull the beets out of the soil and feed the beets to a nipping device, and a nipping -device comprising aknife, two arms capable of swinging towards and away from said knife., and gripping ymembers on said arms, said gripping members fbeing adapted to move towards and away-from one another in such manner that when said arms are at a comparatively large distance from one another andl can move past a beet, and thatwvhensaid arms swing towardssaid knife said grippingmembers are moved towards one another so as to gripl a vbeet and A move the same towards said knife.

2. In a beet harvester, the combination of members operating inthe soil for loosening' the beets,'means adapted to grip'the tops of a nipping device comprising a knife, two arms capable of swinging towards and away from said knife, gripping members on said arms, said gripping members being movable towards and away from one another, and means for guiding said gripping members in such manner that when said arms swing away from said knife said members are separated at such distance from one another that they can move past al beet, and that when said arms swing towards said knife said gripping members are moved towards one another so as to grip a beet and move the same towards said knife.

3. ln a beet harvester, the combination of members operating in the soil for loosening` the beets, means adapted to grip the tops of the beets and pull the beets out of the soil and feed the beets to a nipping device, a nipping device comprising a knife, two arms capable of swinging towards and away from said knife, gripping members on said arms, said gripping members diverging outwards from the axis of rotation of said arms and being movable towards and away from one another, and means for guiding said gripging' members in such manner that when said arms swing away from said knife said members are separated at such distance from one another that they can move past a beet, and that when said arms swing towards said knife said gripping members are moved towards one another so as to grip a beet and move the same towards said knife, and vcurved guide rails located outside the path of movement of said gripping members and adapted to guide the beet held by said gripping members during the swinging movement of said members towards said knife.

-L ln a beet harvester, the combination of members operating in the soil for loosening the beets, means adapted to grip the tops of the beets and pull the beets out of the soil and feed the beets to a nipping device, a nipping device comprising a knife, two arms capable of swinging towards and away from said knife and capable of turning towards and away from one another', gripping members secured to said arms in such manner as to be capable of turning around axes located substantially in the longitudinal directions of said arms and substantially perpendicular thereto, and means for guiding said gripping members in such manner that when said arms swing away from said knife said members are separated at such distance from one another that they can move past a beet, and that when said arms swing towards said knife said gripping members are moved t0- wards one another so as to grip a beet and move the same towards said knife, and curved guide rails located outside the path of movement of said gripping members and adapted to guide the beet held by said gripping members during the swinging movement of said members towards said knife.

5. In a beet harvester, the combination of members operating in the soil for loosening the beets, means adapted to grip the tops of the beets and pull the beets out of the soil and feed the beets to a nipping device, a nipping device comprising a. knife, a frame journalled so as to swing in directions towards and away from said knife, two parallel shafts journalled in said frame transversely to the axis of rotation of the same, two arms secured to said shafts so as to be capable of swinging towards and away from one another, and gripping members pivotally secured to said arms so as to turn around axes in substantially the longitudinal directions of said arms, means for guiding said gripping members towards and away from one another, and curved guide rails located outside the path of movement of said gripping members and adapted to guide the beet held by said gripping members during the swinging movement of said members towards said knife.

6. A beet harvester as claimed in claim 5, in which the parallel shafts to which the arms supporting the gripping members are secured, are interconnected by means of ropes and rope pulleys in such manner that the gripping members swing symmetrically towards and away from one another.

7. A beet harvester as claimed in claim 5, in which a rotatable arm serves as a stop for retaining the gripping members in separated position in which said gripping inem` bers may receive a beet, one end of said arm projecting in between the feeding means for the beets, so that when said end is struck by the top of a beet the arm is turned and releases the gripping members so that said members may be moved towards one another by a spring and grip the beet.

8. A beet harvester according to claim 1, in which two plow-like top-guides are provided immediately in front of the means for pulling the beets out of the soil, said topguides serving to gather the tops and convey the same in between said pulling means, the lower ends of said top guides being suitably formed as sleighs which prevent said pulling means from touching the ground.

OTTO GOTTFRIED TNELLTON. 

